Hamas Hands Over Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages in Final Exchange of Ceasefire Deal

Feb 27: Hamas has handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza as part of the final exchange in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. The bodies were handed over to Israel authorities after crossing over to the Israeli border and the process of identifying the four bodies at the Israel-Gaza border before being sent to Tel Aviv for forensic examination is continuing.At the same time, a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel has arrived in Ramallah, in the West Bank. More than 600 Palestinian detainees, including over 400 from Gaza who were arrested during the war, are set to be released. Among them are 50 prisoners serving life sentences.This latest exchange follows an agreement between Hamas and mediators to release 620 Palestinian prisoners, along with an equal number of women and children detained in Gaza.The process has been carried out more discreetly this time, without any public display, after previous publicised exchanges angered many in Israel. The release of all prisoners is expected to take several hours as Israeli officials wait for forensic confirmation of the hostages’ identities.